Breaking Borders
by shadowwriter01
Summary: A forgotten town in Greece had become a vocal point between the worlds. A strange cult ist controlling the area and a dangerous legendary artifact has reappeared after many years. The remaining Olympian Gods ask Xena and Gabrielle to investigate. But they don t know that they are not the only ones who were sent to this place.
1. Chapter 1: The lost town

**Breaking borders**

It was nightfall in the town located in a forgotten area of Greece. The sun was setting on the horizon and it was quickly getting dark.

The streets were empty. Not a single human being could be seen outside, just like it had been the most time during the last years.

The name of the town was Innhiata.

In opposite to every other area in the country, this city was not following the Olympian Gods or even the newly risen cult of Eli, it had not for many years. Neither did it follow any of the other known religions, be it the other Pantheons or the One God. The town did not longer follow any faith known to mankind. But it was not only the fact that it´s people didn´t believe. The place itself had somehow grown out of their reach. It had changed in some mysterious and very disturbing way.

For reasons that nobody, be it mortal or immortal, really understood it was not longer part of the same realm. It was not longer inside of the sphere of influence of the Greek Gods or that of any other creature on Earth for that matter.

The town had not been part of it for a very long time. But not only that. In some way, it was not even longer really part of this world. The place now existed at the borderline of their reality, at the edge of another unknown dimension. It was a realm beyond human understanding, that also held dangers, even for the gods.

Nobody was sure how all this exactly came to be. Not even the Olympians had a real explanation for this developments.

But they were fully aware of one other fact. Instead of them, the people of this town were now worshipping another force. It was a entity, a being, far older and more ancient than the Olympians or any other gods of their generation. This being had not been seen or heard of on Earth for eons, but many gods and even some mortals over the course of history knew of it´s existence.

The people of this town didn´t follow any faith currently known to mankind, but they were still following a faith, one that was both ancient and very dangerous. A cult that was claiming to act in the name and on the behalf of this older deity had taken control of this piece of ground a long time ago.

Under the influence of the cult, it´s citizens slowly began to change, in more than one way, in body and soul. They became reclusive, strange acting and locked themselves into their houses. There whatever was going on with them continued in secret. The few times most of them were seen outside was for their religious ceremonies, where they performed bizarre rituals.

Sometimes the Olympians saw a few glympses of what was happening, of black magic, human sacrifices, ritual mutilations and other things, all performed by figures wearing red colored robes and hiding their faces behind grotesk looking masks.

The little bits they could see were enough to even make the Olympians nervous.

But this was not everything, by far not.

Because now something else had also been brought to this place, a mysterious and legendary artifact, a book.

Nobody knew exactly where it came from or who had written it, only that it was one of the greatest sources of dark power in the world. Wherever the book had appeared in history, whenever someone unprepared had dared to read in it, it was always followed by mysterious events, mysterious and for the most part terrible.

One other thing was being said about it however, that the author hadn´t been human, that it was written by someone or rather something else. But even that were only rumors.

Other sources however were even more bizarre. Some said that it had never been written at all, that the book had just suddenly appeared on this world, that it fell out of a hole in time and space. Of course that was only another story, again one of many. Nobody knew for sure.

For a long time the book was said to be located in the land of Egypt. There it became the source of a number of myths and legends. Even the Pharaos feared and respected it´s power. But then, over 20 years ago, it vanished.

Now, a short time ago, it had appeared again, here in this cursed place. Fallen from the sky as some of the locals claimed. It was the newest part of it´s story.

The name the book was known under was Necronomicon ex Mortis or as it was sometimes translated, the Book of the Dead. It described rituals to summon demons, ways to `resurrect´ the dead and to grant godlike power.

It was sometimes said to be made of human skin instead of pergament and with writings of blood. But few had ever seen it in person and even fewer had lived to tell the tale. So barely anybody actually knew something for sure.

The Necronomicon was also said to be something else, a key to open gateways to other dimensions and to different planes of existence, a very dangerous one.

Now it was in this certain town, just like the cult in those hands it was now. These people were aiming to use it´s powers and combine it with their own, to further their unknown goals. Now it had fallen into the hands of a group of people who were already living at the borderline of their world and who seemed to have every intention to use it for their own purposes.

This two factors together were enough to give the Olympian Gods reason to worry. This meant of course the ones under them who were still alive.

xxxxxxx

It was now several months ago that the event known as the Twilight had come over them. The Twilight of the Gods was an old doom-prophecy that had now finally become true. But it was in a very surprising way. It´s key had been a child. By now however the child had long grown up.

Eve was the Bringer of Twilight, a child not fathered by a human, but created by an Angel, destinied to herald the end of the gods, at least the ones of the Olympian Pantheon. For that reason they had wanted her dead since even before of her birth.

But she was also the daughter of Xena, the infamous woman who was also known as the Warrior Princess. She had made sure that she would live to adulthood. Or as some others said, she had challenged the gods and in the process brought great havoc and destruction on Earth. Both was true in some way. But this was also to a great part a question of perspectives and of priorities. Xena´s priority while her daughter was being attacked, was it certainly not to hold peace for everyone else.

But beside all that, Eve had also been something else, a roman commander, warlord and mass murderer under the name Livia. So the most people would not really have shed a tear if she had been killed. At this time the only ones protecting her were Xena and her partner Gabrielle.

But they had another ally, the Angels, those servants of the Force of Light who were responsible for Eve´s creation in the first place. In the end the prophecy became true, even if in another way that anyone would have expected. It was not Eve who had destroyed them, it was Xena, in defense of her daughter.

Some of them however were still alive, still around, and they were worried about the latest developments. The cult was trying to unlock the power of the Necronomicon. As the remaining Olympians knew, this could mean a threat to everyone.

But they were also aware that, since the town was outside of their own realm, they would be powerless there. So they would hardly be able to interfere on their own. And that came in addition to their weakened state after the Twilight.

They had lost the most important members of their Pantheon and beside that also many of their mortal followers. In short words, they were weak as never before in their entire history.

For that reason they had to ask for help. Ironically, looking for candidates capable of this task and with their own dismished power and influence over the world, they decided to go to the same person who was responsible for their downfall in the first place. It was another thing that the most of them were more than wary about.

But they all knew this book in the hands of the cult was a disaster waiting to happen and from all mortal inside their reach, Xena was by far the best suited for to deal with this situation, even if they didn´t like the thought.

xxx

It was not the first time Xena had nearly caused their destruction, in fact it was not the first time Xena actually caused the death of one of them.

Of course this was not how things should have been going by his own memories. But that was exactly the point.

This was **not** his world.

It was about two months ago now that he had arrived here. In this time he had made himself a place under the other gods of his family who were still alive in this reality. It were far more than in his own after the Twilight happened there, he admitted.

But here his own other self was not under the survivors. That was probably one of the reasons it was this dimension where he was send to.

He was Ares, the God of War, but not the one who had originally existed here. To put it simply, he was a traveler through time and space, but not exactly by his own choice.

What he had also done during this last months, was trying to find out what exactly had happened in this version of their history. He gathered this information by questioning the other gods, the Fates or by simply reading about it in the scriptures some of the other immortals had written to document the events of the last decades.

xxx

By what he had found out, this world diverged from his own at the point where Xena was threatening Hope with the Hinds Blood Dagger inside what had once been his own temple before he had abdicated it to Dahak´s followers.

In this world Gabrielle had not interfered in time and and the events began to change from what he knew. This time around, Xena actually managed to stab Hope.

Not that it achieved anything. As it turned out the hinds blood had no effect on a Child of Darkness. Still, given her nature, Hope´s body was technically for a short time temporally dead and that was the worst thing that could have happened.

The pact that Ares himself had formed with the Fates was fullfilled and Xena died as well as a result. But it came even worse.

None of them knew it at that time, but what Dahak truly needed to manifest himself into this world was the soul and body of a warrior. In consequence Xena herself became his vessel on Earth.

By what he saw she however, in opposite to Iolaus who for a time virtually merged into one person with Dahak, was only particular possessed. Maybe the process wasn´t as deep as it had been with Iolaus in his reality or maybe Dahak just thought Xena was already usefull enough as she was.

His other self vowed to follow this new being, just like Hope and temporally even Gabrielle and Joxer, who didn´t realize what was happening until it was nearly too late.

This was the beginning of a devastating war that shook the entire world.

First `Xena´ actually attacked the greek underworld to bring her son Solan back to life. In the process she killed Hades and caused great devastation over this realm. Many souls, thousands of them, just vanished from Tartarus during the fight. As Ares concluded they were send over to Hell to further Dahak´s agenda. But at that time nobody knew this.

The other Olympians, now fully realizing what was happening, made the same decision like in his world and fled. That was probably the only reason they had survived this crisis.

A short time later Greece was suffering under the roman forces that had invaded the country, because Ceasar and Pompey had chosen to fight their civil-war on it´s ground.

Under Dahak´s influence Xena rallied more and more followers around her and with Ares by her side, she had also control about the various armies and warlords of the country. Very quickly she had gathered a large force and was fighting off the romans, with the most brutal methods.

And parallel to that, someone else appeared on the plan. The country of Sumeria offered them it´s assistance and an alliance. It was no great surprise, as Ares had already known and as the others had found out later, the Sumerian King Gilgamesh was a disciple of Dahak.

Shortly afterwards open war broke out between the Roman Empire and the armies of Sumeria and Greece, under the command of Xena and Gilgamesh. All of this played out just as Dahak had planned.

Countless people were killed in a line of bloody battles, but the conflict continued without any clear outcome. Both sides seemed evenly matched, so the mutual destruction on both sides raged on without a winner.

It was then when Gabrielle had finally realized what was going on and what exactly happened to Xena. She left to find Hercules and Iolaus and warn them about Dahak. At this point however the number of his followers had already grown into the thousands.

Like in his own world his brother ultimately confronted this enemy with a group of allies.

In the end his counterpart, the Ares of this dimension, turned against Dahak and was killed in the process. He however managed so to give Hercules an opening and drive his presence out of Xena´s soul. They had won.

The war came to a standstill shortly afterwards and both the Romans and the Sumerians retreated to their own territories.

Neither Dahak or the local version of Hope had been seen or heard of since then.

All that was over 26 years ago. The rest of the events happened astonishingly very remarkable to the one in his own world. Xena returned to life a short time later by the grace of the Light and the Archangel Michael and was pregnant.

Like in his world Xena and Gabrielle were put into suspension for 25 years, even if their Ares was not around to put them into the ice coffins this time.

It was nearly as if someone had planned and engineered this events, he thought sarcastically. Of course someone did, Michael. He must have made sure that Xena landed in the same predicment anyway to get her out of the way while his little pawn Eve grew up and that she would stay young and strong enough to take on the Olympians later.

This would be typical for him, the `holy´ puppet-master.

And as it looked Eve was completely able to be Livia, even without his influence. This was actually a surprise to him. Then the Twilight happened and now he was here.

He had realized that he was actually somewhat earlier in the timeline than the world where he was send from. The Twilight was here only a few months ago instead of a few years.

The other gods had of course long realized by now that he was not exactly the Ares they had known. But they had accepted him for two reasons, even from another dimension he was still kin and beside that with their decimated numbers they were simply in no position to turn away someone of his status.

Now he was here, in some small village, looking for the same woman he had known for so long. But he knew at the same time that he had never met **this** version of Xena before. But he had finally found both her and Gabrielle.

Like nearly always she was able to sense his presence before he actually appeared, just like the Xena he knew. But the look of surprise and shock on her face was still clearly visible for him as he now stood directly before her. And she was someone who normally tried to never show shock and surprise.

"Hello Xena," he greeted her.

"Ares," she said. "So how exactly have you managed to return to life?" she asked him after a few moments to fully take in the situation.

xxxxxxx

_Somewhere else_

At another time and space, another female warrior was on her way to a certain meeting place.

This one shared many parallels, but also many differences with Xena. They had a long history with each other after all. Her name was Callisto.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors notes: <strong>

This is the same version of Ares who had appeared in the story `Days of Tomorow´ and was send to a parallen world in the end.

The Necronomicon had actually appeared in Hercules season 6 in Egypt. At the end of the episode Hercules has thrown it into an Earth´s orbit. For that reason it is stated that it `fell from the sky´.

The entire story draws in parts from the Chulhu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft. The name of the town for example is a take on his Innsmouth.

(Innhiata = Inn + hiatus (lat. mouth/open maw)

**Disclaimer: **Story and characters don´t belong to me.


	2. Chapter 2: Crossing over

**Chapter 2**

They had been on their way for a few days now. By now their group consisted of five- two mortals and actually three gods, at least for the time being.

If they were honest, when Ares first made an appearance, they weren´t quite sure if they should believe even a single word he was said to them.

It was true that he had once practically sacrificed himself to stop Dahak or better said, to put it more exactly, Xena´s own possessed self, back then. That however didn´t change anything about all the other incidents in the past that showed them that he couldn´t be trusted.

It was not before they had met with the two other gods that they fully accepted the story he had shared with them….His version of the story. These two happened to be Aphrodite and Discord. Now they were on their way to this place in the company of the three Olympians.

**Three Gods**, they actually shouldn´t even have needed them or the assistance of any other mortal for that matter.

These three together were normally supposed to be one of the greatest powers on the face of the Earth. But where they were going now, this helped them nothing. This place was outside of their realm,that meant they would have no access to their powers there. And still, despite this little impediment, Ares, had agreed to come with them. That alone could be considered a clue as to let them know how important the situation was.

And having Aphrodite in their company-who they usually knew to be trustworthy- confirmed that what he had told them helped them a lot. So they had made the decision to believe them.

Of course, it was not happening every day that one of the Olympians came to you and was actually asking for help, not even for them. Unfortunately, it was in fact not the first time they were in this situation. Ares especially had been relying on their assistance before. That however didn´t mean that he wouldn´t turn on them once again the moment the odds were in his favor. And the story he had told them was not one that someone, not even him, would invent just like that,

…. A town that had somehow been cut off from the rest of the world, a cursed, demonic book that had suddenly reappeared, that was truly not an ordinary tale, even for him.

If they were honest, going on some crazy mission because the gods had told them to, was actually one of the last things they wanted to do. But by what they had been told, the situation sounded serious… more than serious actually.

What they had said to them, more or less directly, was that this could eventually develop into a threat to the world. So it was better to act before it came to that. Threats like this had they seen enough as far as it came to them.

The task they had agreed to carry out was actually quite simple. They would cross the town´s border, find the book, take it and leave. It sounded deceptively easy. If it were not for the little fact that to do this they had to enter a place that had partly drifted into another dimension and that was being controlled by a dangerous insane cult and where their immortal allies would be powerless, it should have been a piece of cake.

Yes, it was just **that** kind of mission that you would **wish** to go on, Xena thought sarcastically to herself. Truth be told, if it was not for the fact that the Olympians had managed to convince her that the situation would turn many times worse should they not interfere, she would have rather stayed where she was.

But just like Ares had pointed out, it was better to solve this problem now, before it turned into another world shattering crisis. That was something she had truly enough of after the entire Twilight business. It hadn´t taken her and Gabrielle long to come to this conclusion after a short debate

As it turned out however, Xena was not the only one having similar thoughts about their mission.

"Why exactly did we have to go with them?" Discord continued to complain.

"Because they are helping us with an important task," Ares retorted "and we can not just expect them to go by themselves. You know that."

"And why not? We all know that our powers will vanish as soon as we cross the border. So it is not as if we would be of much help."

"Only speak for yourself," the War God remarked, "even without my powers I am still one of the best fighters on the planet."

Nobody commented to his boasting. Xena was only one step away to say something even if she knew he was technically right. There were only few who could match him with a sword. She was one of them.

But if she were honest, she didn´t even know for sure completely how Ares had managed to return to life. Not that it was **all** too surprising however, after all she herself had managed to do the same thing a few times before.

The only explanation he had given her so far was that he was `**not the same´** being she used to know and that he was not from this world. Up to then, she couldn't really tell for sure how good `this new version´ of Ares was and it would be pure arrogance to make assumptions here.

But so far, neither he nor the others showed any interest to turn against her or Gabrielle. As far as she could tell, they seemed to be sincere.

"It is also a question of trust," Aphrodite pointed out. "We can not expect Xena and Gabrielle to go all by themselves."

"And it is not as if we could force them, well… not since Xena gained the ability to kill us all if she wants to, anyway" Discord remarked sardonically.

"Yes, that's exactly my point," Ares responded.

"It is good to know that you still remember that," Xena told them. "Just in case one of you should come to any strange ideas."

"As if we ever would," Discord replied, suppressing a grin.

"We aren´t your enemies anymore," Aphrodite assured her. "There is no reason anymore since the Twilight has already passed."

As soon as her line ended, her expression became unusually pensive…The Twilight…they weren´t even so sure about that. Between the demise of Zeus and Hera and that of the others had passed over 25 years. Who said that the Twilight was truly over and the rest of them would not simply die later? Yes, Ares had assured them that this had not happened in the world where he came from, but who said things **here** would be playing out in the same way? There was no way to be certain. There were no guarantees.

"Okay, but it is not as if we all need to go with them, right?" Discord remarked. It was clear by her tone that she had no interest to be one of them who did.

"Not, it is not," Ares simply replied.

"By the way, can you tell us a bit more about this place?" Gabrielle finally asked them. "You only told us that it somehow `drifted´ to a place outside of our world. But how exactly did that happen?"

"Believe me, if we knew that we would have told you in the first place," Aphrodite answered grimly.

The anger, a feeling normally quite foreign to the love-goddess, and slight shame in her voice was obvious, at least for someone like Xena who had spent years learning how to read people.

The fact that something like this could have happened and them, the gods, had no idea how, was obviously still a sore spot for them all. In Xena´s and Gabrielle´s opinion the events of the last decades should have thought them some humility and showed them they were not the sole masters of the world, like they had long thought. The God of Eli, Dahak, it was clear that there were bigger fish out there than them.

xxx

They had been travelling for a few hours when they finally reached the border of the lost area, the point of no return.

"So, this is it," Ares stated.

Right in front of them, the field road they were walking on just continued without a visible difference. But at the same time, there was an incorporal super-natural barrier before them, one which presence only the gods could feel.

"So this is the place that gives you so much worry," Xena commented.

"Exactly," he replied. "We will do this as we discussed. I will come with you. I will be powerless, but still able to fight as a mortal." This would not be a first for him, he thought. "Aphrodite and Discord will turn back."

"Yes, as agreed."

"Wait a moment," Discord said, to everyone's surprise, even to her own, taking a few steps forward.

There was something, she had a strange feeling. Something just drew her to move, **across** the border. Aphrodite followed her in a short distance, walking only a meter behind her.

"Hey wait. What are you doing?" she asked, casting her a puzzled glance.

"I am not sure," she admitted. "I had a very unusual feeling, as if I should move forward. It just seemed a good idea."

"You mean we have just crossed the border to another realm because something told you to do it?" Aphrodite exclaimed, in bewilderement.

"Great," Ares remarked, "now **she** of all people has to start like this."

They all had to admit that this kind of behavior was out of character for Discord, well kind of. Acting on impulse had always been part of her nature. Listening to her `inner feelings´ about something however was clearly not.

Looking at each other for a short moment, Xena, Ares and Gabrielle followed them through the invisible line in the air.

"That means we are now in your realm," Gabrielle questioned, "or even in our world?"

"Let us test this out," Xena stated. "Try using your powers," she said with a visible smirk. You could **`nearly´** think she liked the idea of seeing them powerless.

All three of them started trying, in different ways, to do something super-natural. Nothing happened so far though.

"Nothing," Ares responded.

"By all indications, we could as well be mortals," Aphrodite pointed out. Neither of them had any success.

Then however, something unexpected happened. As Discord was channeling her energy...

...A long tree limb that had been lying close to them was now floating a few meters in the air.

"Wait a moment" Gabrielle wanted to know, "why does **she **have access to her power, but you two don´t?"

"I have no idea," Ares replied, staring at Discord in awe.

"It is not all of my powers," she told them, "only a bit of it. But I guess it's better than nothing."

"This town, we had a theory about it. Not about the reason. We are completely clueless there. But we had an idea where it might have moved to," Aphrodite informed them.

"And you mention that now?" Ares said.

"We never had any proof."

"Okay, what is this theory?" Xena asked.

"We believe that it is possible that the area had somehow began to drift into the Realm of Chaos, long ago" she explained.

Ares stared at her speechless for a few moments.

"Great, just great," he then commented.

"Chaos, that is part of **my** element," the dark haired goddess said with a grin.

"Do you even know what you are talking about? You..." Ares growled at her. But then he stayed silent.

"It would explain why Discord has access to a part of her power," Aphrodite suggested. "In this perspective she seems to be right."

"Okay, change of plans," the War God told them, "Discord, you come with us. Aphrodite, you go back."

"What? But..."

"No buts. You are the only one of us who is not **completely** reduced to a mortal. That means we will need you."

"If this is cleared up let us keep going," Xena said to them.

They continued to walk on the very same road, nearly as if nothing had changed at all.

xxxxxxx

_In another place and time_

The immortal warrior known as Callisto was on her way to the destination where her employers had send her. These `employers´ were nobody else than the Olympian Gods. She had been in their `service´ for a few decades now.

To make a long story short, Callisto had once been a mass murdering warlord. In the past she had been responsible for the destruction of entire towns and villages. She had killed countless people, including unarmed women and children, pillaged, crucified landfolk, besides many other horrible crimes. After awhile, she even went as far as to conspire either against or with some of the gods.

Her motivation for all this however was, for the greatest part, nothing else than revenge on Xena, whose army had burned down her hometown and killed her family when she was still a child.

Ironically, she ended up doing more or less the same thing to many others.

But all that was in the past now.

In one of her latest schemes, Callisto had managed to achieve immortality and even godhood, by eating a piece of Ambrosia.

**Godhood**, for every other warlord, conqueror or simple villian this would have been the fullfilment of all their dreams. For Callisto however, as it quite quickly turned out, it was just a worthless torment.

Her purpose, the true driving-force behind all her actions was ultimately nothing else but vengeance on one person and as this desire could not be settled to her satisfaction, her existence became unavoidably pointless. This was also exactly what came to pass a short time later, when Callisto had been involved in the death of Xena´s son. It was meant to be that what she had always wanted, her true revenge, the death of Xena´s family for her own.

But it didn´t give her what she had hoped for. All what she knew at that time was that she was feeling empty.

If the story now had played out like it did in the `regular´ world, it would have ended with Callisto being killed by Xena with the Hinds Blood Dagger, being sent to Hell and later being reborn as Eve.

But this was a different Callisto. It was a different world and things had turned out in another way.

Through a particular line of events she had now become an agent of the Olympian Gods and was currently on the latest mission they had sent her on.

Given her position, she was not longer a real god, but still immortal. Most of that power had been stripped from her when the Olympians `recruited´ her. But in light of the new task she had right now, this might actually be an advantage.

She was on her way to this strange town called Innhiata.

In opposite to many of her past missions however, she was not going alone now.

"Do you have any idea what might happen if we cross the border?" her partner asked her.

"To be honest," she answered, "I don't have the slightest idea. This is kind of part of the whole `being in another dimension´ deal, right?"

"You mean we have no idea what we are walking into…. Sounds just great."

"Why do you think the Olympians have sent **me** of all people here to investigate, instead someone they truly care about? So they won´t have to risk one of their **favorites** for this," Callisto told her.

"You know, you can always turn back. This is my task and mine alone. Nobody can force you to come with me," she said to the young woman she was travelling with.

"I have told you I will stay by your side, no matter what happens." she responded.

Yes, her new partner had offered her, her allegiance, her loyalty, maybe even her friendship. A part of her had to nearly laugh at the thought, another felt something quite different.

"I see," Callisto just answered.

xxxxxxx

**All** of them continued their journey. They were moving through a very similar landscape, following very similar paths, even if they were in different worlds.

But they had the **same** destination.

Before them, laid the town Innhiata. It was located in a fog clustered valley, at the coast of a large bay that was connected to the open sea.

The town itself seemed to be empty, deserted even. Not a single being was to be seen on the streets. From afar, it looked like a place forsaken by everyone, even the gods.

But they knew this was not true. It was the town that had given up on them.


	3. Chapter 3: Phantoms

**Chapter 3**

They were by now entering the town.

As soon as they set foot on the place however, they were all more and more overcome by the feeling that it had been a very bad idea to come here. The streets were still covered by the grey mist that surrounded the entire area, and there was nobody to be seen anywhere.

The sun didn´t really seem to shine, despite that it should have been bright day. The air was cold, cooler than at every other part of the country at this time of the year. This alone could have simply been attributed to a sudden change in weather.

Yet there was more than that. Somehow the entire town seemed to be radiating an aura of pure menace.

xxx

For Callisto at least, this was clearly to read. Over the years she had practically developed a sixth sense for danger and threats, partly because her senses were not longer that of a normal human and partly just out of experience. This was something, one of many things actually, that she had in common with Xena.

This place here however was practically screaming it out.

Her young partner also seemed to have noticed that something was definitely not right about the town.

"Callisto, I have a strange feeling here," she said.

"Well, I have to say you are complete right my friend, something is clearly not right about this place. Have you taken a look backwards to the path where we came from?" she asked.

The young woman turned her head back.

"I see nothing. The fog is too thick," she said.

"Exactly," Callisto answered, "but right in front of us I can see nearly everything. Why is that?"

"Maybe the bank is just located behind us," her partner offered weakly. She knew as well that it obviously couldn't have been that easy.

"It is not only that. Look around, the fog is concealing the entire landscape outside the townsborder, while everything inside is clearly to see. The fog is surrounding the town."

Then they finally saw someone, a small figure standing in the gab between two buildings. It was a little girl.

"Hey you," Callisto´s partner called out.

The child drew immediately back as she heard her. It looked as if she was trying to hide.

"You don´t have to be afraid. We won´t hurt you, I promise," she said to her.

At her reassuring words, the child slowly came closer. They could make out her features better. It was really a little girl, maybe nine or ten years old. She was dirty, her clothes were old and ripped and her blonde hair stained and greasy.

"Are you okay? Where are your parents?" she asked the girl.

"I don´t know. They were here and now they are not."

"That means you are alone?"

"Yes, I am all alone," the child said.

"Callisto we can't just leave her here. We have to do something to help her."

"Wait a moment. Child tell me, do you know anything about the cult that is ruling this place?"

"The cult? Yes these people, the robed men with the masks. They are everywhere, they see everything. They can also see you."

"Really?" Callisto replied sarcastically. "Tell me, has anybody else come here before us?"

"No, nobody comes, nobody leaves. They **all** die. You will die too," the child told them matter of factly.

They were both looking at the girl with conflicting emotions.

"We have to take her with us," her partner said.

Callisto shook her head.

"I know why you want to do this, really. But there is something not right about her. Believe me, she is somehow part of all this here."

As they turned back around, the child was suddenly gone.

"What, where is she?" the young woman asked while feverishly looking around, but couldn´t find the child, anywhere. "How could she have vanished so quickly?"

"This doesn't really surprise me. She is one of **them**. We couldn´t have trusted her, anyway " Callisto stated.

"Maybe you are right. She was...well...strange," she replied.

Good girl, the immortal thought. As always she showed complete trust in her and was completely loyal. That was actually no great surprise, given who she was. In many ways she was the perfect sidekick, **just** like Xena once had.

Callisto you manipulative bitch, she then thought to herself. Just admit it to yourself, that was the main reason why you even allowed her to tag along after you found out who she was.

In some twisted way it was another attempt to mock her old enemy. At least it had been like that in the beginning.

xxxxxxx

At the same time, the group around Xena and Ares was entering the town as well. They also knew nearly instantly that something was fundamentally wrong there.

"So, what do we do now?" Discord asked as they kept staring starring at the empty streets.

"We find the book," Ares responded.

"And how do we do that?"

"First we should find anybody of the people who live here. They should be able to tell us something," Xena pointed out.

"Good idea, do you see anyone?" Ares said with light sarcasm, pointing at the deserted street.

"We will have to look," she responded.

After a few more minutes of walking through the seemingly empty town, they finally found something or rather someone.

It was a child, a little girl who was cowering in the small place between two of the houses.

"Hello, you" Gabrielle adressed her, "Please come out. You don´t have to be afraid of us. We are friends."

At her words the child came out. They all saw the state she was in. Her appearance was dirty, ragged and she looked as if she had been out here for a long time.

"Tell me, are you alone here? Where are your parents?" Gabrielle wanted to know.

_"Yes, I am all alone,"_ the child responded.

Xena walked forward, to ask a few questions by herself.

"Wait, there is something wrong about her," Discord said.

"I know," she replied casually. "Can you tell me something about the people who live here?" she addressed the little girl. "Where are they?"

"People? The cult? _Yes, the robed men with the masks. They are everywhere, they see everything. They also see you,"_ the child answered.

"Well, just what we had wanted to hear," Ares commented.

"Okay, can you tell us where we can find them?" Xena asked.

The girl pointed in one direction with her arm.

"Good, that is at least something," Gabrielle stated.

_"Nobody comes, nobody leaves. They **all** die. You will die too,"_ the girl said now and giggled.

"Why you little..." Discord growled. She had gotten angry now.

"Don´t," Gabrielle protested, trying to calm her down. She was shaking her head. "It is only a child."

"She is right here," Ares admitted, "attacking this girl is pointless. We should better try to get more information out of her."

But as soon as they turned back around to the source of their discussion, they saw that she was gone.

"What the..." the War God hissed.

"She has suddenly disappeared, from one moment to the other," Gabrielle said.

"I told you something was wrong about her. She was probably not human," Discord replied.

"At least she gave us a direction," Xena reminded them.

"What, you actually want to trust her or maybe **`it´** on this?" Ares questioned.

"It is still better than nothing. And you wanted to find the cult. If this `girl´ is really connected to the curse that is hanging over this town, she may be our best chance."

"Great, let us trust the direction that the cursed super-natural creature gave to us. I mean, what could go wrong, right ?" Discord remarked.

"To be honest, everything could," Xena responded. "But the same could happen if we just stay here. This entire place is the problem. We are in danger here or there. But I for my part want to get out of this town again in my lifetime and this is the only hint that we have."

Then they went together in the direction they had been told.

xxxxxxx

After another short period of walking, they were now standing in front of a building that had clearly been an Inn once, just in the direction the `child´ had shown them. Like the rest of the town, it looked rundown and bedraggled. The door however was standing open.

"An open Inn in a ghost town," Ares suggested. "Let us go inside?"

"Of course," Xena responded, "that is the reason we are here, right?"

As they stepped inside, they sat still but saw nobody at first. The interior of the building, they realized, was not much better than the outside.

"Hello," Gabrielle called out, "is anybody here?"

"Yes," they heard a voice after a few seconds, "yes I am here."

A few moments later a person, a man, was coming out of a room at the end of one of the darkened corridors of the house.

At first they thought it was an old man, by the way that he moved. He was going very slowly and he was visibly limping.

But as he came closer they saw that he was no more than middle aged, maybe 40 years. The reason for his strange way to walk was something else. There were obvious deformities on his left leg and his lower body. He was crippled.

But that was not everything, by far not. Gabrielle and even Xena could barely hide their shock when he turned his head to them. While the right side of his face was looking normal, human, the other was a hideous mixture of bulges and lumps of flesh and, the most bizarre thing, there actually seemed to be small spikes growing out of the side of his head.

And there was something else. At a closer look, they could make out a couple of slits at the side of his throat that looked nearly like fish-gills.

What in the world had happened to him, was happening to him?

But despite his insane condition, the man acted as if everything was completely normal.

"Welcome," he said. His voice showed no traceable emotion. "What can I do for you?"

"We want to stay in this town for some time," Xena answered. "We need a room for now."

"I understand," the man replied.

"By the way, we have not seen any of the other citizens. Do you know where they are?"

"Yes," he simply stated. It was all he said about it. Then he stayed silent.

"Yes? and can you tell us where they are?" Gabrielle asked him.

"At home," the man stated.

"And when can we see them?" Xena wanted to know.

"At night."

"You mean they stay in their houses the entire day and come only out at night?" Gabrielle questioned.

"Yes," the man once again answered.

"So much for this question," Xena remarked. "Can you tell us where our rooms are now?" she asked the man.

He then pointed into one of the corridors.

Their entire group turned around, moving into the direction he had gestured to.

"Well, to say that this guy is strange would be an understatement," Ares commented.

"At least we know something now," Xena responded. "If we want to the cult or the book, we better wait for the night."

"Would it not be easier to get the book now, as long as everyone is locked in their houses?" Discord asked.

"Only that we have no idea where it is. Do you want to break open every single house in the town to find it?" Xena countered.

"No."

"Or do you have a better idea? You have some of your powers left. Can you maybe locate the book?"

"If I could, I would have already told you. I am able to locate super-natural disturbances, like every god," she said with a side-glance to Ares, "but somehow this entire town seems to be full of them. It would be impossible to find out which one is the book."

"So we will have to wait for the night, when the cult comes out of their hiding places and hopefully they will have the book with them," Xena stated.

In this moment they heard how the front door was being opened once again.

"I thought nobody is coming here at day," Gabrielle wondered, "so who...?"

"Exactly," Xena replied. She made a gesture for Gabrielle and the others to come with her as she turned back to the entrance.

As they had returned a few moments later, they saw how someone stepped through the now open door.

Whoever this was, they knew, was most likely an enemy, maybe a member of the cult who had watched their arrival. So Xena, Gabrielle and Ares had already drawn their weapons, but as they realized the identity of the person who had just entered the house it was a shock, even fore them.

This woman was gone for decades, at least in their world.

Their only consolation was the equal look of complete surprise on the newcomers face. It was at least clear that she had not planned this.

"Callisto," Xena exclaimed.

The blonde warrior needed a few moments to catch herself. But then she put a smile on her face and responded confidently.

"Well, I have been told that this town was cursed, but meeting **you** here Xena. I had no idea that it was **this** bad."

"Shut up," Gabrielle growled at her. "I don´t have any idea how you returned, we thought we had gotten rid of you for good the last time and now you are suddenly here. How did that happen? How can you even exist when Eve still lives?"

"I have not the slightest idea what you are talking about?" Callisto replied. "I could ask you the same question. Who is Eve? How can Xena be back alive? I thought she was dead for good now.

I don´t even know if you are the real Xena and Gabrielle or some sort of visitation, but I have other things to do than worrying about you."

In this moment however another surprise came for the group in form of the young woman who was travelling with Callisto and had now entered the room right behind her.

"What are **you** doing here?" Gabrielle asked loud.

xxxxxxx

At the same time, at the outskirts of the town´s area, Xena and Gabrielle had once again just arrived at the border and were standing right in front of the super-natural barrier.

What they didn´t know was that they were in fact the second Xena and Gabrielle who were crossing this place.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" the Bard asked her.

"No, but according to Ares and Aphrodite the source of the problem that is threatening Greece is in there."

"And we trust Ares and Aphrodite, why?"

"Because it is obvious that they were just as worried as we are."

"Okay, that is all I wanted to hear," Gabrielle said before both of them crossed the border.

xxxxxxx

Only a short time later, but at another plane of existence, another Xena came travelling the same path. This one was riding alone.


	4. Chapter 4: Twisted paths

**Chapter 4**

All their gazes turned from Callisto to the young woman who had just entered the inn.

Judging by the clothes and the appearance, she was looking quite different from what they remembered, but Gabrielle and Xena recognized her nearly instantly. This was no wonder.

It was nobody else than Gabrielle´s own niece. They had only met her once before, as they had freed her from the warlord Gurkhan.

This was clearly her, the same person. But at the same time, there was something different about her. The way she was dressed, her posture, the way she was holding herself in front of others. Somehow she wasn´t the same as they remembered.

But given the location they were in and everything that had already happened so far, this should have been a minor surprise. Still, it unnerved Gabrielle that her niece didn´t react to her question at all.

"Sarah…" she addressed her again.

"Yes?" she finally replied, her voice sounding a bit unsure. To Gabrielle´s shock however, there was no sign of recognition in her features.

"How do you know my name?" she wanted to know.

What was even more unsettling, it was an honest question, no sign of irony or deception in her voice.

As unbelievable as it seemed to the bard, the woman before her, her own family, had obviously no idea who she was. What was going on here? How could that be? Her gaze suddenly turned to Callisto.

"What have you done to her?" she asked the immortal, angrily.

"Done to her? nothing bad, even by your puny standards." she grinned. "I have only been good to her. In fact I even saved her once from slavers, beside many other things. The real question is, how do** you** know her? Sure, she is your niece, I am aware of that. But I am quite sure **you** Gabrielle have never actually met her."

"What are you talking about?" she exclaimed. Then suddenly she realized something...

Callisto was very different from the last time they had met her. She didn´t know who Eve was. Her memories seemed to be different from their own. Nearly as if she wasn´t the same Callisto that they had known. And maybe, indeed she wasn't.

Was Sarah the same? Was she not the same person she knew either?

`Sarah´s´ face now turned to her in complete surprise.

"You mean... you are Gabrielle?" she asked. "My mother´s sister that she always talked about? We all thought you were dead. But you look so young…."

"We have been...well, you could say suspended for a long time. As you said, we were supposedly dead and someone conserved our bodies. So we were put in a cold sleep for over 20 years. Only that we were not dead."

"Wow."

That was all that Sarah had to answer to this incredible story.

This was truly **not** her niece, Gabrielle thought, at least not as she knew her. The Sarah she knew was carrying deep mental scars from the time she had been enslaved as Gurkhan´s `head-wife´. She was very often depressed or angry and had traces of self-doubt and self-hatred. This woman here however showed nothing of this, as if nothing of this had ever happened to her.

She remembered what Ares had told them about where he came from, a parallel world. He seemed to have the same idea.

"I think I have an idea what is going on here," he said to Xena. "I don´t think that this is the same Callisto that you knew. Maybe we should all lay down our weapons now. I have the impression that we are all here for the same thing after all."

"You are one to talk, Ares! " Callisto countered. "What are you even doing here with Xena? Why have you brought her back of all people? I thought you were not exactly on good terms the last time you met."

"Well, to be honest I don´t know anything about the things you have mentioned," he replied. "Like I said, I am also not the Ares that **you** know. This town is drifting more and more into another dimension. I think that the line between the worlds is dangerously thin here. This might explain how we all were able to meet in this place."

"Oh really? I will give you that, you at least don´t **sound** like the Ares I am used to. But that doesn´t mean that I'll just go on and believe you your crazy story."

"You are the one to talk about crazy," Discord commented sarcastically. "Just think about it. Why would our doubles send you here and then still come by themselves anyway? And that without telling you. Why should they do this?"

"You have a point here," Callisto admitted. "Normally it is always me who your kind sends to do your dirty work. Actually coming here yourself for once, moving your lazy hides out here is in fact out of character for you."

"Hey...you," Discord yelled at her, but then stopped herself. Even she had to admit they had truly other thing to worry about than to start another argument right now.

"Xena, you know what I am talking about right?" Ares asked her.

She indeed understood exactly what he meant. Xena had heard about this phenomenon of identical people from different universes before, multiple time actually. The `Sovereign´ and his world, who was basically an evil alternate version of Hercules, was only the first example. Ares here himself was the last one.

"I see," Xena responded. "Callisto," she addressed her, "maybe you should tell us about your past, your version of it."

"Of course," she answered smugly.

xxxxxxx

_Somewhere else (the third group of travellers - Xena2 and Gabrielle2)_

At about the same time, another pair of travelers, another Xena and Gabrielle had just arrived at the border, and was on their way to town. They were the versions of them from one of the many parallel worlds that existed.

This two however were at the same time very alike and quite different from the first ones, who had arrived together with Ares and Discord. While the course of their lives itself was very similar, they were at a completely different period of it.

The town and the cult existed in pretty much the same way in a number of different worlds, different versions of Earth with different versions of Greece.

In their version however, at least at the point where they came from, it was several years earlier in time. They had never lived through their 25 year sleep, never been killed by Ceasar or resurrected by Eli. Eve had never been sired and born and the Twilight had not happened. For them nothing of all that had happened, **yet**.

And for all they knew it never would. There was no way to tell if the events in the different dimensions would develop in a similar way or not. Given the things that were very soon about to unfold however, it was more than likely that their future would play out in a completely different manner.

For them, their last battles against the Romans or their great journey to India had only happened months ago.

It was at this time when they first heard of the town lost between the realms, years earlier than in the other realities. But the `curse´, the distortion of reality and the cult had existed for a long time. In their world however, the effects had become visible far earlier.

The town had become a nodal point, the center of a widened twist, between the planes, between the worlds and even between times.

Similar looking, but still completely different paths were now all leading to the same place, the cursed town.

This second pair of Xena and Gabrielle was now travelling one of this many ways.

What they didn´t know was that, since the moment they had crossed the border, they had been followed.

xxxxxxx

_The Inn (hiding-place of the first and second group that had arrived - Ares, Discord, Xena1, Gabrielle1 + Callisto and Sarah)_

It took them some time to change and describe a few basic details about their different lives, while at the same time waiting for the night to come.

"...and so it happened that I came to work for the Olympians," Callisto just ended her explanation. "Now, tell me more about you," she added.

"So you have been `recruited´ by Zeus after...the events in the centaur village," Gabrielle stated. She did not want to say **after Solan´s death.**

"Yes, some time after that at least," she replied. "To be more precise, it was actually after Hope had sent me back into the past and I attempted to save my parents from being killed."

She was looking straight at Xena as she said this.

"After this failed then and I finally realized that everything had become senseless for me, I just wanted to end it all."

They were all looking at her in various ways. All of them were curious, like Ares and Discord. With Xena and Gabrielle however it was also mixed with anger and sadness.

"Where we've just come from, Zeus is long dead," Ares told her.

"Well, that is interesting, since Zeus was one of the group of gods who sent me on this mission only a few weeks ago," Callisto responded, "and he was certainly not dead, in opposite to others here." she looked around, her gaze however ultimately landing once again on Xena.

"Oh, I don´t really doubt that, but in `our´ world he has been dead for decades. That only shows that I was right."

"That means we are all only doppelgangers of the persons we actually knew." Callisto was grinning.

"Basically yes," Ares replied.

"So tell me, what had happened with me...where you come from?"

"You died," Xena answered in his place.

"Oh and I guess it was you who killed me right?" she asked curiously.

In another world it was, Ares thought silently, the one where he originally came from. It was another reminder that these were not the Xena and Gabrielle he had known for most of his life, even if they were really close.

In his original reality it **was** Xena who had killed Callisto, after a very provoking word exchange.

"Actually it was me," Gabrielle replied. "Xena was...well...indisposed at that moment."

The pair of `strangers´ were both looking at her now, Callisto in downright curiosity, Sarah however, as she realized, in horror. What in the world was Callisto to her?

"It was** you** who killed me, **you,** the peaceful little Gabrielle? Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"You find it hard to believe? After what you have done to me?" Gabrielle´s eyes hardened. "Is that truly so unlikely that I could do it?"

"Maybe not," Callisto admitted. "I guess I did the same thing in my world…"

Like killing her husband, rubbing it into her face whenever she could, helping to kill Solan? the Bard thought.

"Yes," she just replied angrily. "If you want to know, you wanted me to do it. By then you had figured out that your entire existence was pointless and only wanted for someone to put you out of your misery."

"Well, **that** is something I can believe," Callisto responded. "I was feeling pretty much the same way once. To my luck, I got better."

"How nice for you," Gabrielle replied with obvious sarcasm.

"Later, you were reincarnated," Xena spoke up, "…into a girl named Eve. We...know her quite well."

There was no point in telling Callisto that Eve was actually her own daughter. Knowing this detail would probably drive her old opponent insane right again.

"So, now tell us a little more about you," Xena requested. "How do you of all people come to work for the gods?"

Callisto gave her a smile in return.

"In some way, you could say I became your successor. I admit my new `carrier´ only truly started after you had this genius idea to stab Hope with the Hinds' Blood Dagger and as a result only got possessed yourself.

Well, I was already in contact with Zeus at this point. In fact he wanted me to infiltrate Dahak´s cult for him. But after you basically became Dahak´s little hand puppet, this task had become mostly pointless. As it turned out, he had been looking through me right from the beginning. So we were all working together trying to stop you."

Xena and Gabrielle flinched slightly. The same had happened in their own world as well, but obviously it had turned out quite differently where this Callisto came from.

"What shall I say, in the end you were both dead and I was officially working for the Olympians from then on," she continued. "After Dahak...retreated from our world, I kept doing it.

Well, I have to admit it wasn´t exactly by choice in the beginning. Zeus and the others said something about `making up for my past trangressions´. You know what I mean Xena," she remarked.

"Okay, I have only one last question," Gabrielle inquired. "Why exactly are you travelling with my niece. What is she to you?"

"Why, she is my partner and friend of course, my companion, just like you are for Xena."

"When I first met Callisto, she saved me from the soldiers of a warlord who wanted to take me as a slave," Sarah spoke up.

"You mean Gurkhan?"

"Yes."

This explained a lot, the Bard thought. This version of her niece never seemed to have been captured by Gurkhan in the first place, so she was acting quite differently. It also explained how she became Callisto´s, of all people, travelling-companion. Her thankfulness obviously blinded her for the darker aspects of her `partners´ character.

A few moments later she remembered the irony that she had originally joined Xena for **exactly** the same reason.

Gabrielle´s face however became grim.

"Do you know what I think?" she asked. "I believe you are only keeping her around because of me. That is your way to create some sort of twisted mockery of me and Xena. That is the reason right? Even if Xena is long gone in your world, you just can not resist the chance to mock her, even in death."

"That is not true at all," Sarah exclaimed.

Callisto´s face however was unreadable.

"The sun will set very soon," Ares reminded them all. "That means it will be soon time for us to go and find that damned book."

"Even if we do find it," Callisto questioned now, "who of our group will get to take it with them?"

"This question is not as important as keeping it out of **their** hands. We can still discuss that later," he responded.

"If you say so," she answered.

This `discussion´, she knew pretty well, would probably mean that Ares or Xena would take the book , keeping it as far away from her as possible. She could live with that. Her mission was to get the book away from the cult, not keep it for herself.

"We should go now," Xena said to the others.

They were getting on their way.

The bizarre looking man, if he could even be called that, who was running the inn, was nowhere to be seen. Very likely he had joined the other citizens who were slowly coming out right now.

"Ares, I have another question," Gabrielle addressed him a few minutes later.

"Yes? What can I explain to you now?"

"You said something about the fact that this town might be drifting into the Realm of Chaos. What is that?"

The expression on Ares face changed now. He became more serious.

"Chaos," he answered, "is something we gods don´t like to talk about very much. It is part of our heritage, but one old and quite forgotten."

"Well, it surprises me that you of all people know about it," Xena remarked.

"Like I told you, I am not exactly the Ares you remember."

"Okay. Now continue, if your suspicion is correct, this **is** certainly the right time to talk about it."

"Chaos is actually an ancient deity itself. It is probably the first being who had ever been created," he said, "a force that existed since before the beginning of our world."


	5. Chapter 5: Falling Night

**Chapter 5**

_The `other´ group - Xena2 and Gabrielle2_

While this was happening, the `other group´ was coming closer and closer to the town. Just like the two of the first one that had arrived they were Xena and Gabrielle, only with a slightly different history from them.

In their world, Gabrielle had, at that critical moment in Ares temple, reached Hope before Xena could stab her with the Hind's Blood Dagger and threw both her and herself into the fiery abyss right behind them.

As a result, none of them had died that day and this Xena also had not become possessed. Things had gone differently there. But for them, this only took place a few months ago, not over 26 years, like for the first two groups.

Xena had known for some time now that they were being followed. Tracking her of all people and remain unnoticed was something nearly impossible. Still, they managed to come really close to them, she admitted. Still they managed to come really close to them, she admitted. Far closer than she would have liked and she wasn´t completely sure how many it were.

Whoever this was, was good, really good.

"Gabrielle," she whispered, "get ready."

I had begun. They were here. Their pursuers had reached them.

The attack came suddenly and actually quite obvious.

Two men, clad in black battle armor came running, yelling loudly towards them. Xena was actually a bit disappointed. She had expected something better than this.

The two fighters attacked her wild and brutally, without any restraint and as it seemed, without reason. They were going for blood, trying to kill her. But she easily fought them off.

Still, both of the men made no move to back off. It was as if they had no interests in their minds beside trying to murder her.

She cut both of them down quite quickly. It wasn´t as if they were giving her much choice here. Xena looked down at the two dead bodies.

This was not what she had expected. It was too easy. Nearly as if it was...a distraction.

Just the moment she thought this, someone else stepped out into the open from the trees. They were two women, both of them they had never seen before and in a short distance behind them, one man.

As Gabrielle saw him however, she froze instantly. Even Xena was shocked. They both recognized him. But it was impossible, he was dead, he had been that way for decades. They both pointed their weapons at the newcomers.

"I see you have been awaiting us `Xena´," the obvious leader of the three addressed her. "We have expected to meet someone, some competitors, on our way. But that it is **you** of all people, I must admit, that's quite a surprise, at least in a way."

The first woman was maybe in her mid to late twenties, dressed in a similar battle armor like the two men she had just killed. Hers however seemed to be sleeker and better crafted. To that came the way she was moving and holding herself. It was clear that she was higher ranked than the others.

Xena couldn´t help but feel that there was something about her that was unsettling familiar. She had long brown hair and blue eyes, just in the same shade as her own, a small part of Xena she thought.

"It seems that you know me," she responded. There was something about this woman that just set her of. She nearly felt as if she should know who she was. "Who are you?" she asked with some force.

"So it seems that you **don´t** know me." the woman turned her own words back at her. "Well, given the situation this is not really a wonder. We belong to different worlds after all. Well, I have already been informed about this phenomenon beforehand," she stated.

"What are you talking about?" Xena asked, now visibly irritated.

She lifted her sword a bit higher in a challenging gesture, hoping to draw her opponent into giving her some clearer information. What she said however was more than unexpected for Xena.

"It is a shame that you don´t know me in your world `mother´..." she said, "and you never will."

**This** took even Xena off guard. Of all the things in the world she had thought she might say, this was probably the last….Just like her opponent had expected.

She gave a short glance to her side, where one of her own companions was standing. The other woman was wearing similar armor like herself and had deep red hair that was hanging over her shoulders.

"Now," she ordered.

Then, it suddenly happened. Xena didn´t see or feel the attack coming. She couldn´t have, even if she had tried to anticipate it. It was something she had no real defense against. From one moment to the other she couldn´t move her own body, couldn´t lift her arms.

This was however a form of power she and Gabrielle had encountered before, telekinesis. It reminded both of them in a shocking way of Hope.

Xena tried struggling to free herself, but couldn´t do it in time. An invisible hand lifted her off the ground and held her suspended in mid-air. It was the red haired woman, they realized.

"Xena," Gabrielle yelled, but it was senseless. Their other two opponents were now standing in her way and holding her off, while their leader was casually moving closer to the helpless warrior.

"Why are you doing this ?" Gabrielle asked the male member of the trio in a horrified tone. He was the one who shocked her the most, despite the frightening power his companion displayed. It was nobody else than Perdicas, her own...long dead husband.

"I have no choice," he answered.

Meanwhile the leader was now standing right in front of Xena, who was still trying to overcome the telekinetic grip. She lifted her sword.

"I guess that means goodbye mother," she said. "Well, I will see you again soon anyway, but I fear you won´t."

With these words, she stabbed her blade right through the chest of the still defenseless Xena. The grin she had on her face while doing it, matched her actions perfectly.

"No!" Gabrielle shouted desperately, but it was too late.

Her friend´s now limp body fell motionless to the ground. Xena was dead.

"And what do we have here?" the leader asked sarcastically. "A Gabrielle, a slightly younger version than we are used to though. To be honest, I have no real interest in killing her however. Not like with Xena. I am just not in the mood for it.

"What do you think?" she turned to the red haired woman standing next to her. "Maybe we should take her with us. She would make a great toy for Hope, don´t you think?"

"If you say so Eve," the woman replied.

xxxxxxx

_The first group_

They were again on their way through town. This time however, at night.

In the darkness, their surroundings were even more unsettling than it had been during daytime.

"So Chaos is some sort of ancient god, you said?" Xena questioned.

"Yes, it is believed to be the first living entity that has ever been created in the universe, that means the third being in existence as a whole."

"How does **that** work out?" Callisto questioned.

"Our old friend Dahak and the one known as the God of Light have **never** actually been **created**," he answered. "They existed since before the beginning of time and space, before even the universe itself.

Chaos on the other hand comes right after them in this regard. It was the very first entity that came into being back **in** the still young cosmos, before worlds, planets, stars or even any solid matter at all was formed and also probably before it started to split into countless parallel realities. That at least is what the legend says. It originally existed in an empty universe, without physical laws, because nothing physical existed yet, without any borders. That is its natural state.

I am not talking about `chaos´ here, as Discord represents it, with a bit of mischief, fighting and some common unrest."

"Hey, it is much more than just **a bit** of mischief," Discord said grumpily. But everybody around her just ignored her comment.

"This is something completely different," Ares continued. "It is the embodiment of emptiness, desolation and the breakdown of all natural order. But it is also the source from where we, the gods came from. Uranos and Gaia, the parents of the Titans rose from it, as had many others. They were the first gods, the ancestors of most of the Pantheons.

Then, as the physical world as we know it continued to take shape, Chaos was pushed back more and more. But it never completely vanished. It was still there, somewhere, hiding in the void between realities. Some people believe that, should Chaos ever return to our realm, it would mean the breakdown of all natural order. Judging by the things that are going on in this town, I would say that is a strong hint that these people were right," he added.

"And you believe that this cult is aiming to achieve precisely …**this**?" Xena questioned.

"We know that they worship Chaos and with the Necronomicon and its ways to open gates to other dimensions, it would certainly be the ideal tool to bring it back into our world," he answered.

"Even if they aren´t planning something like this right now, the book in the hands of **them** is just too much of a threat," Discord pointed out. "The book alone is highly dangerous. It is one of the strongest sources of dark magic in existence."

"The Necronomicon means more than just black magic," Ares cut in. "It is the key to other planes of existence, places where old and very dangerous beings reside. Chaos is only one of them. These are things that should have better been forgotten by mortals."

"How do you know that?" Discord asked him, slightly confused. She had never heard of this.

"Let us say in my own world I had much time to get aquainted with themes like this," he replied.

"I am surprised that** you** of all people would do that," she commented.

"You could say I also had several tough lessons to learn over the course of this time in my world," he responded.

"This would also explain why Discord still has access to a part of her power, while you and Aphrodite do not," Xena mentioned. "Her role as a goddess has in its nature many similarities to Chaos, only in a much less extreme form."

"Yes, she is pretty much a dumped down version of Chaos," Ares agreed, "very dumbed down."

"Hey!" Discord yelled, "I think I had enough of you two talking about me this way. I am still a god and right now I am probably the only one here who truly has the right to call herself this. I didn´t even want to come along on this stupid mission in the first place, I only came because **you** asked me to. So I will not be mocked or talked down by you two again. Have you understood me?"

"Yes Discord, we are sorry, we will never do it again" Ares responded casually. Still he didn't really sound as if he actually cared much either way.

xxx

It was dark night by now. With the fog that was hanging over the entire area, it was barely possible to see into ten meters distance.

This however was actually working to their advantage. It allowed them to get quite close to their target, undetected.

In the shine of the torches that were standing around them however, they could actually make out the forms of the cloaked figures who were forming a circle in a short distance before them.

Around this group was standing an even greater number of spectators, who were obviously watching the ceremony. Xena and the others could still not see them clearly, but there were at least forty people. All of them were wearing red robes and were hiding their faces behind white featureless masks.

One however, on the other side was standing in the center of the circle. This was most likely the leader of the ceremony and he was reciting words in a language that none of them, not even Ares and Discord, could recognize. His voice sounded distorted and hollow, nearly as if it wasn´t the one of an actual human being and by what they had seen by the appearance of the inn keeper, maybe it wasn´t, not anymore.

As he ended his litany however, he began to speak in Greek. They could understand his words now.

_"The time is near. Soon the great change will arrive," _he announced loud. _"and we will be its harbingers."_

Close to him, on what seemed to be a bizarre looking altar made out of stone, they saw something that looked like a book…the same book they had been looking for, nearly in their reach.

"What we need now is a distraction," Callisto whispered.

"I agree." Xena responded. She turned to Discord. "You have still powers left. Do you think you can do something to divert their attention? "

"Yes, I think I can do something," she replied.

"I've just had the same idea. It seems like we really do think in similar ways," Callisto said with a smile.

"Don´t even try it..." Xena countered. "This is not the time for your mind games."

"No, you are right, it is not," she answered. "We have other things to do." she replied, and her entire behavior had suddenly changed. It was clear that she was taking this serious.

"Maybe we should try to get our hands on a few of those robes," Gabrielle suggested.

"A good idea," Xena gave back. "Discord, Callisto...Ares, Gabrielle...Sarah," she said, addressing the members of their group.

They were just about to start their makeshift plan, as Xena realized something else. Callisto and Gabrielle had noticed it as well.

"We are not alone," she whispered.

"You could say that," Ares replied sarcastically. "There are tons of these robed figures in front of us."

"No, I mean there is someone else here. Over there," she pointed to their side. "Probably someone who wants to sneak up on them as well."

Now they were all looking in this direction.

"Try to get your hands on some of those robes," Xena told the others. "Gabrielle and I will take care of our interloper."

They all nodded.

xxx

She was getting closer now, moving slowly. But she was not the only one. Her target had already changed its position. Whoever this was, he or she was good, Xena had to admit, **very** good.

Through the still thick fog, she could now make out the figure. It was a woman, dark hair, quite tall, clad in battle armor. She was obviously a warrior and she knew that someone was tracking her. Xena drew her sword.

She hoped that she could avoid a fight. This was clearly not a member of the cult, but someone who was going after them as well. That meant a possible ally. But she couldn´t be sure.

xxx

Ares, Callisto, Sarah and Gabrielle were now very close behind a few of the cultists, only a few meters away. They could see them clearly now.

They were three of the robed figures who were standing in the background, two of them a bit outside of the main group.

At a closer look, at least one of them seemed to be standing in a strange, unnatural, posture. His back was bent to one side and his neck crooked to the other, as if his spine was twisted into two different directions. Gabrielle had to once again remember the man in the inn.

As if what they could see of the first one under his cloak wasn´t already unsettling enough, the Bard thought...but the other.

Her gaze was on his right arm. Sarah had seen it as well. She looked as if she could barely hold herself away from screaming. There, at the end of his sleeve, where his hand should have been, instead stuck out two grey tentacles.

"Discord," Ares whispered to her, "get ready."

xxx

Xena had nearly reached her now. Both she and the other woman had drawn their weapons. She was only a few meters away, close enough for the other to hear her without the risk of alarming the cultists.

"Don´t move," she said. "I am not here to attack you. But I don´t want **them** hearing us."

The figure before her turned around...and Xena froze. She was looking into her own face.

xxxxxxx

_Xena3_

`Xena´, the one who had reached this place all by herself, was nearly at her goal. She had found what she was looking for, ever since she had started on her self-claimed mission, since she had heard about this place the first time.

She knew that someone was closing up on her. Good, she thought. She had no problem with this, truly not.

The person was truly skilled. Someone else would probably not even have noticed it until it had been too late. She draw her sword, she was ready.

But then something happened that more than surprised her. She heard a voice talking to her. It was her own voice.

As she had turned around to be sure, she saw nobody else standing before her than...herself.


	6. Chapter 6: Lost in the Myst

**Chapter 6**

Both Xenas were frozen in shock as they saw each other' s face.

"Who are you? Or better said **what** are you?" one of them, the one who had just been tracked by the first who came here, asked.

"Well, to start with, I am Xena, just like you are by the looks of it," the other replied. "I came here to deal with the cult that is in control of this town, just like you, as I would guess. The only difference is that we belong to different worlds."

"Nonsense," she responded.

"Have you not been informed about this place beforehand?" Xena1 asked her with some barely hidden smugness. It was not every day she got the chance to berate herself. "This town here is the crossing point of many dimensions. Some of them were worlds where exact copies of yourself exist. The Souvereign, Hercules' double, have you ever heard of him?"

The short expression on the second Xena´s face told her that obviously, she had indeed had.

"I see, so you at least know what I am talking about," she commented. "By the way, I am not the only one. There are other people here with me you should meet. Maybe this will convince you."

"Oh yes? And who can tell me that you are not working for them?" she whispered, pointing at the assembled cultists some ten meters from both of them.

"Please! If I really worked for them I would just hand you over to them here and now. In fact, one wrong move from either of us and they would probably notice us and we would have to fight them all at once. So unless you want to start an all out battle right now, you better come with me," she stated.

Her counterpart hesitated for a few moments, while lifting her sword up and down a bit, but then she seemed to have finally decided that her argument was sound after all and she ended up following her.

It didn´t mean that she completely trusted her self proclaimed `other self´, by far not, but she had a point. If she had been somehow allied with the cult, she could have handed her over to them right there. No matter how good she was, she would have been killed. A light smile formed on her lips.

She would see what her double had to show her. Xena3 didn´t fully realize yet that she was in for the surprise of her life.

xxx

The rest of their group was still watching the crowd of robed cultists in front of them. For now, they were waiting.

"Xena should be back every moment," Gabrielle mentioned.

"Do we even need this distraction?" Callisto questioned. "Together we should be more than enough to defeat these figures, especially since she has still some of her power left." She said, pointing to Discord. "You know, Xena and me alone could probably take half of them by ourselves."

"**Probably** is the key word here," Ares responded. "We don´t know how much of the power of the Neconomicon they have already unlocked. "

They heard someone approaching from somewhere behind them. Xena was back.

But as soon as she came fully into view, they were faced with a more than surprising sight. Right behind the Warrior Princess they knew, stood a second Xena, crossed realities indeed.

"Xena?" Gabrielle said a bit unsure.

"Gabrielle," the newcomer gasped. It sounded as if she was more than surprised to see her.

Nearly at the same moment, she gave a more than angry look to Ares who was standing next to the Bard.

Indeed, she had lost `her´ Gabrielle a long time ago. Alternate worlds, the words of her double sounded suddenly far more believable to her. Gabrielle, Ares and Callisto, all of them long gone in hers, dead. But they were all here and they acted as if this wasn't even anything unusual.

So, at least for the moment, she was willing to believe her `twin´s´ story.

"Well, this is for sure a surprise," Ares commented.

"**You**," the second Xena hissed at him the moment he addressed her.

Her hand was once again on her sword. It looked as if she was struggling with herself not to attack him on the spot.

"Another Xena…Great! …Just what we need." Callisto stated sarcastically.

But despite everyone's expectations, she didn´t react to her taunts. In fact she practically ignored her presence.

Instead she just kept glaring at the God of War.

"I guess that means it didn't turn out so well between us in your world," he said.

"You can say that," she responded.

"Ah, sad really, a Xena who is holding such a grudge against Ares, but completely ignores me," Callisto cut in, "maybe I should feel hurt."

"Believe me Callisto, in my world their are far greater problems than **you**," the other Xena told her. "I remember you quite well. I remember everything, including the role that you played in the death of my son. In fact where I come from I already killed you a long time ago. But in comparison to what else had happened in my world, you are less than nothing," she declared.

"And you," she turned back to Ares, "you should be glad that I don´t even know who to hate more, you or myself," she told him. "Your powers don´t work in this place right? Is it the same with your immortality? Maybe it would be an interesting thing to find out."

"That is enough," the first Xena interrupted her. "Whatever happened between you and the Ares of **your** world, we have other worries right now. He and Callisto are not even really the same persons you remember. Technically, they have done nothing to you."

"But that doesn´t make it any easier," she replied. "You are right however. We all have other things to do. If you want my help, that is." She already acted as if she was part of their team. "You said you were here for the book?"

"It is a source of power too dangerous in their hands," Xena1 answered.

"I see."

"As it looks, you were able to get those robes you wanted to get?" the first Xena remarked, with a glance at Gabrielle who was holding the clothes in her hands.

"Callisto and Gabrielle took two of them out," Ares told her.

"But it wasn´t exactly a pleasant job," Gabrielle commented.

A few yards behind them she could still make out the unconscious forms of two shackled and gagged figures lying in the sand. She couldn´t see them clearly, but given the in part monstrous deformities the inhabitants of this town seemed to possess, she wasn´t sure if she even wanted to have a better view.

From the side of her eye she caught a few glimpses of twisted and completely inhuman looking limbs and body parts. But it was more than enough for her to get an idea of the full picture.

What had happened with the people of this town? she had to asked herself. She had seen much in her life, but this...They seemed to have lost their humanity in both body and mind.

"Is everything ready?" she asked the others.

"We can start whenever you want," Discord answered.

"Then let us begin," Ares said to them.

"Good, Gabrielle and I, we will take the robes," Xena1 stated. "We will get the book. The rest of you will hold them back when they realize what is happening."

"Well, as you wish," Callisto replied.

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile, the nightmarish procession in front of them continued.

So far, none of them had noticed that two of their members were missing. They were all spending all their concentration on what was happening before them.

The leader, the priest who was holding the ceremony, was about to raise his voice again.

_"People of Inhiata,"_ he announced, _"the time has nearly come, the moment we have been all waiting for..."_

But he never came to end this sentence. Suddenly a bright light shone up behind them.

In a short distance, a fire started to burn. Not a normal one, but flames that were hanging freely in the air, moving completely unconnected meters above the ground, without any substance to fuel it.

The air itself was burning. This should have been impossible, if not for one thing, divine intervention.

That was also the way the cultists saw it.

"A sign! " one of them shouted as he saw the unnatural phenomenon.

Others around him started to repeat it, until the entire crowd was calling out the same words. Some of the voices were nearly as distorted as that of their leader, a few sounding more like the noises of animals than human beings.

For them, this was clearly a sign from the force they were worshipping. It went against the natural order of things, that was exactly what their master represented, so it was obviously some kind of holy manifestation.

They gradually began to draw back from the altar, closer to the mysterious flames, curious about their meaning.

This was exactly what Xena, Ares and the others had been waiting for.

xxx

Xena and Gabrielle, wearing the stolen robes, were cunningly using the distraction to get closer. This was their chance. While Discord was putting up a show with her remaining power, they would get the book.

Only one of the cultists was left standing by the altar, the leader of the ceremony.

As they came even closer however, they saw another horrifying detail. All around the altar, scattered human bones were lying. Human sacrifices, they remembered Ares' stories. Xena realized that a few of the bones also looked as if they had been gnawed upon by very sharp teeth. As if something had eaten the flesh off of them. In between, a still complete arm that had been ripped off from its body could be seen.

The altar itself was constructed asymmetrically. The different stone plates were twisted unto each other in a way no sane human being would ever have considered for building. All of it looked like a scene out of a bizarre dream.

But for the moment, they deleted all that out of their mind. It was time they made their move.

Xena and Gabrielle were moving quickly to the altar. At about the same moment, the cult leader noticed them and turned around.

"You, what are you doing?" Because of the robes, it took him a few seconds to realize that they were not people of his town. _"Strangers, trespassers,"_ he growled. _"Kill them,"_ he shouted.

The crowd, that had one moment before only eyes for Discord´s fire, was turning back to them letting out angered screams.

"Gabrielle…" Xena addressed her, "…lets take the book and get away from here."

As she said this, she circled around and faced the cult leader who tried to attack her with a sharp dagger. She disarmed the man or whatever he was, quickly and knocked him out by hitting the hilt of her sword over his head.

Gabrielle stepped to the altar and reached out for the Necronomicon. The moment her hands touched the book, an ice-cold feeling shot into her, as if all her senses were screaming out a warning, but she chose to ignore it and picked it up anyway.

Now it was time for her and Xena to leave as quickly as possible.

xxx

The rest of their group was fighting off the cultists, who had now clearly fallen into a murderous rage. They were drawing back, trying to make room for them to leave with the book.

If they were to let it come to an open battle, they would probably win, yes. They had after all some of the best fighters in the world with them. But it wasn´t for sure.

At least some of the deformed cult-members seemed to be stronger than normal humans. This was a lesson they had learned painfully.

One cultist jumped at Sarah before anybody could do anything about it and bite her arm. His teeth were not like a humans' and sharp like knives.

Ares finally stabbed the guy in the shoulder and threw him off of her. Callisto had at the same time her hands full with two other opponents. They all had to admit these guys were dangerous.

The second Xena and Callisto then both cut one of the cultists down who were still attacking them like raging beasts. They seemed to have lost all senses as they realized that their `holy book´ was now in the hands of these interlopers.

During all this, Ares and the others were quickly retreating and they soon reunited with Xena and Gabrielle.

They now saw that Xena was carrying a body on her shoulder, the suspected leader of this cult. She had made the split-second decision to take him along, since she thought having him as a prisoner might be useful.

They were quickly drawing back into the foggy and hard to oversee area.

xxx

After a few more minutes they finally lost their pursuers and were now moving somewhat slower.

Gabrielle and Callisto were both seeing to Sarah´s wound, while the two Xenas and Ares were taking a closer look at their captive.

"It is okay," Sarah assured her `aunt´ and her partner.

"The wound shouldn´t be that dangerous, as long as we prevent infection," Callisto stated.

"Hopefully," Gabrielle said, "but we should better keep an eye on it. Who knows what a bite from one of this beings could do." Thoughts about creatures like werewolves or vampires went through her head.

"She has a point here," Callisto admitted. "We will be careful."

"Callisto," Sarah addressed her as soon as Gabrielle had left them to talk to Xena and Ares, "I have something to ask you." They were now walking a short distance away from the rest of their group.

"Go on," she said.

"Today you were a bit...well...**different**. Whenever you are talking to the Xenas or Ares, you are acting...strange…"

"Why don't you say it?... Like a psycho," Callisto replied.

"No, it is not that."

"It is exactly that, stop denying. I **was** insane. I was a completely deranged monster once, I would have killed you and everybody else here without a second thought. Never forget that."

"But you are no longer like that." Sarah whispered.

"No I am not. But to be honest, I am not sure if I will ever be truly normal. What shall I say? old habits die hard and being around **them** seems to bring out the worst in me."

xxx

Gabrielle had just rejoined the others. Their group had stopped for a moment and was no longer moving.

"Xena?" she asked a bit unsure as she realized that her friend was continuously watching their surroundings, turning her head from one direction to the other.

"This is not the same way." she concluded, seconds later.

"What?!"

"Look around Gabrielle. We are not on the same path as before."

The second Xena showed a similar reaction as the first one, but didn´t say it out loud, as her `twin´ had already done this for her.

"We are not even a kilometer away from the town. We can not be that far off," Gabrielle replied.

"No, she is right," Ares claimed. "I don´t recognize anything here. We have never been in this spot before. But at the same time, I am sure that we have taken the exactly same way back."

They were interrupted by a hoarse laughter. It was their prisoner. He had regained consciousness.

_"Fools, you won´t ever leave this town,"_ he said to them. _"The book will not let you go. Chaos itself will not let you go."_

The man, creature, had by now dropped his mask. His face was of a bizarre monstrosity, like a mixture of parts of human, fish and primate.

"It's this place," Ares stated, "and the book. Its power is active. The area around us itself is changing while we're walking."

xxx

At the same time however, they were being followed by someone else, who was waiting for the right chance to attack.

"Xena, once again," she stated. "Just how many versions of my mother are in this place?"

"I am not quite sure Eve, but so far I can make out at least two others and they have the book we have been looking for," the red haired woman replied.

"I see. Continue to follow them with your senses Delilah. We will wait for the right time to strike."

xxx

The group around Ares, the two Xenas and Callisto was still trying to make their way back, away from the town.

The further they walked, the clearer it became that something was wrong. Not only were they not able to recognize any of their surroundings, they should have passed the outskirts of town awhile ago now. But there was nothing.

Where were they?

Then, they suddenly heard something.

_"Here, I am here!," _they heard someone calling out. It sounded like the voice of a young woman.

_"I am..."_

"Could someone else be here besides us?" Gabrielle asked.

"Maybe," Ares replied.

"Do you know what would be a really stupid idea?" Callisto spoke up. "In our situation to follow that voice. But as I know you, you will probably do exactly that."

"We have no idea in what direction to go anyway," Xena1 responded, "so we can as well take this one."

xxx

They were however not the only ones who had heard it.

"Do you hear that?" the woman called Eve asked.

"Yes, but I can not make out the source," the red-head answered.

"You can´t, I thought **your** powers are working here?"

"They are working. But I can still not see where it is coming from. They are just too deep in the mist."


	7. Chapter 7: The Great Change

**Chapter 7**

They were still following the path lying before them, even when its course itself was not longer the same.

It was only a few moments ago that they had heard an unknown voice calling through the mist. Could it be that there was someone else here, maybe someone who needed help?

They were heading in this direction, even when Callisto told them that she thought this was a bad idea. But on the other hand, they had no idea where they were going anyway. The area around them seemed to be changing, so this direction was ultimately just as good or better said just as bad, as any other one.

"Do you really think there's someone else who is lost here?" Sarah asked Callisto.

"Who knows? " she replied stoically. She had been against taking any more risks from the beginning, but they weren´t even sure if it made any difference in **what** direction they were going.

"If you ask me, we should have just taken the book and get away from here as fast as possible," Discord stated.

"We tried to do exactly that until a few minutes ago," Ares replied. "But we have no idea where we are going. That is exactly the problem. If we had done things my way, we would have already left this place."

While they were on their way, they tried to ask their new captive a few questions.

"Who are you? What is your name?" Xena1 asked him. "I am Xena. This here is Ares," she pointed to her left, "…the **God of War**. I am sure you have heard of him."

_"It doesn´t matter,"_ he answered.

"What doesn´t matter?"

_"Everything. It doesn't matter who you are, it doesn't matter if you are human or god. __You will all perish or you will become like us,"_ he stated.

They all shuddered at the awareness that he was right, they were not sure which fate was worse.

And suddenly, a very unpleasant feeling that all of them knew far too well, began to rise within them: **fear**. They all knew how to deal with it though. They were experienced warriors and immortal who had faced countless dangerous situations before.

"So tell me, what exactly is going on in this town? I am curious. What is the deeper meaning ?" Xena asked him.

_"Unbeliever, you truly want me to tell you?"_ he said. A smile apperared on his deformed face. At least she thought it was meant to be one. But with his barely human lips it was hard to tell.

_"If I think about it, I guess it makes no difference, since soon you will be either dead or one of us anyway. So I might as well tell you." _The satisfaction in his distorted voice was hard not to overhear.

_"My name is Lyraeus, chosen Priest of Chaos,"_ he said. _"__A generation has been and gone since__ the great change first came over Inhiata. Once, a long time ago, we__ were__ just like you, human, mortals. _

_We spent __our existence as farmers and fishers. At that time we were living __under the rule __of the __ Olympian Gods, beings who constantly demanded worship and sacrifices, but were hardly ever doing anything to improve our lives."_

With these words he sent a glare to Ares and Discord.

_"Then, one day a plaque came over this town, _ __a sickness that was letting our people slowly wasting away. _One by one, __they all died__. The `gods´ did nothing,"_ he stated.

"Well, there was much we had to deal with at that time," Ares replied, it was a poor excuse, they all knew this, "and that is not exactly my or Discord´s field anyway. Zeus, Hera or Athena should have dealt with your problem."

_"But it was also at that time __when some__ of us began to hear something else calling out to us, from beyond__ this__ world," _Lyraeus continued his resume of the past, as if he had not even heard him. _"And they began to listen. It was then when we turned away from the Olympians who had betrayed us._

_So came the change…. My father was the first who fully embraced it. He became our prophet our leader. We soon realized that, just as the land around usm, we __had began__ to change, also in our appearance. It was glorious."_

A few of the others scoffed at this statement.

_"But we also saw that a few of us didn´t__ take__ part in this transformation. So we had to remove them. I took personally part in our quest to wipe them out."_

"So let me see if I got this right… first you complain that the gods didn't interfere to save your sorry asses and then you go out and kill your people yourself," Callisto commented. "Yes that truly makes sense."

_"They were__ no__ longer our people," _Lyraeus replied, _"they were drawbacks, leftovers of the past. __The greatness__ Chaos offered us was far more than just a rescue from the plaque. No, we were changed, improved, made better than before."_

"That is truly open for discussion," Discord remarked now.

_"We are not longer simply mortals. We__ no__ longer age. Our life can take for all eternity."_

"If that is true, where is your father now?" Xena1 asked him.

_"Severe injuries can still kill us,"_ he simply answered. _"But his demise was no cause for sadness. He received the greatest joy and joined Chaos in the great beyond for all eternity. And it was his departing that then allowed further change to come. So in the end, it was for the best."_

Yes, the creature named Lyraeus remembered how his father died. It was true that he had embraced the way of Chaos, but he ultimately resisted the decision to kill all of the townspeople who didn't take part of the change, who were still human. He resisted improvement, so he had to die.

"What exactly were you planning to do with the Necronomicon?" Ares wanted to know.

_"To bring the Great Change over the entire world, to share our luck with everyone else,"_ he replied.

"I understand."

They didn´t came to continue this conversation, because that very moment they were attacked.

xxx

It was precisely then, when the other group decided to start their assault. Their strike came suddenly, precise and brutal.

Ares was the first to be targeted, just as it was planned by them of course. A telekinetic attack hit him full force. He was thrown nearly ten meters through the air and landed beside the road.

Next came one of the Xenas, then the other one and Callisto. They all felt the invisible force, nearly pressing them to the ground, an energy they could barely resist. But in the end they were able to stand. Their enemies obviously wanted to take out the ones they saw as the greatest threat first. That meant in this case the warriors.

This time none of them had realized that they were being followed. The mist and the disturbances around them were blocking their senses. Not even Discord had discovered anything. But they adjusted quickly.

"They are close by," Xena1 stated.

"Yes, but it is hard to say exactly what direction," Xena3 replied, "except that it is somewhere right from us."

"I could tried to shield us all" Discord offered.

"No," Ares responded. "I don´t want them to know that you still have powers yet. That will be our trump card."

"Good idea," Xena1 replied. "While they are clearly similar abilities, whoever is doing this is not nearly as good as Hope. They won´t be able to take us out with telekinesis alone. We should wait for them to come closer and then we can get them."

"Just my thought."

The one the attackers mostly seemed to ignore was Discord. They probably didn´t know that she had kept part of her powers. Good, thought Xena1, Ares and Callisto nearly at the same time. This could really turn out as an advantage for them.

Their opponents came now finally out in the open. Since their telekinetic assaults had turned out not to be enough to bring them down, they obviously wanted to do it in person. The two Xenas, Ares, Callisto and the others were more than ready for this.

Most of them however were stunned as they saw who was leading the new group.

"Eve," Xena1 said, as she saw her daughter standing there in full battle armor, just like she would have done it a few months before, as she was still called Livia.

Callisto gave her a side-glance. She too remembered this name all too well.

But they were completely shocked as they recognized the man standing only one meter behind her.

"Perdicas," Gabrielle whispered, "that is impossible."

"It seems this place doesn´t stop reminding us of the past," Callisto said quietly. "I killed you," she stated louder in his direction."

"Yes you did," the man responded, "in my world and as it looks like in your own as well. But on the other side, there are far worse things than death." he said.

The last members of their group was a red haired woman they had never seen before. Discord nearly instantly realized that she was the source of the power that had just been attacking them... and another Gabrielle?

She was standing in a short distance to the others and her hand seemed to be shackled, a prisoner, Xena1 thought.

"Xena, how nice to see you again," Eve addressed them, "well, to be honest we have met another version of you actually just a short time ago. I killed her of course. Since then, we have also captured this Gabrielle here. And now here we have actually two versions of you at once. It seems it is just impossible to get rid of you for good, isn´t that right `mother´? "

"Hello Eve or should I rather call you Livia, going by the way you look?" Xena1 asked.

"To be honest, both is fine. I have accepted my heritage a long time ago. The Xena of my world and I both have, how shall I say? come to terms with each other. We are on the same side now, you know."

"Oh really, then why are you attacking us?"

"You just happen to have something I need."

While she had only been giving her glances before, Callisto was now starring at Xena with an open mouth as she heard what `Eve´ had called her.

"That.. that is Eve," she stammered. "She...she is..." She was pointing at both of them. "She is me and she is your..."

This had to be the first time they actually saw Callisto speechless.

"To put it short, yes. Eve is my daughter and she is also your reincarnation," Xena1 replied. "But this isn´t the Eve from my world."

"No, I am certainly not," Eve herself stated. "As amusing it is to watch this display, I have other priorities. You know mother, this doesn't have to result in bloodshed. You know your immortal allies are powerless here. Just give me the book and we can all go our separate ways in peace."

"You really expect me to give this to you after you have ambushed us?" Xena responded. "You may be my daughter, but I know exactly what you are capable of. Maybe you could have coersed me before you have attacked us on sight or before you boasted about killing another version of me. But now…. you have always been too impatient Eve."

"As you wish," she replied. "Kill them," she ordered her two comrades.

The following fight was intense, but quick and short.

Xena1 was fighting Eve with the sword, while Xena3, Ares Callisto and Discord were facing the red haired woman. Gabrielle and Sarah were standing in front of Perdicas.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"Your other self over there has just asked me exactly the same thing `Gabrielle´," he replied bitterly. The barely suppressed anger in his voice when he said her name, was clear for her. "Let us just say that things where I come from are not like you know them and I am certainly not here by choice."

It was at this very moment that Lyraeus attacked Gabrielle from behind. He tried to bite her with his sharp teeth, like one of the others had done it with Sarah, but she managed to fight him off and throw him down.

This however had distracted her from her other opponent, but as she turned back around, she saw that Perdicas had not used this chance to strike himself. Both he and Sarah were still standing in the same places as before. It seemed as if he in fact didn´t really wanted to fight them.

She realized however that Lyraeus had used that chance to escape. It didn´t matter, she thought. They had greater worries than him right now.

xxx

The woman named Delilah was right now sending out low leveled telekinetic attacks to her currently three opponents to keep them at distance. She had thrown Callisto to the ground a few moments ago, but the female warrior managed to get back up very quickly.

Truth was she didn´t have the energy left to do it again. That was something her opponents had also noticed.

"She cannot take all of us at once," Ares told them, "…keep coming and she will get tired."

This was exactly what happened then. Less than a minute later, he realized that he got what he had been waiting for.

"Discord now!" he called out.

The goddess quickly created a glowing orb of energy with her hand and threw it at Delilah. It hit her square and sent her flying to the ground.

Their other two opponents froze in open surprise. It seemed they had never thought that one of the gods would still have power left.

xxx

Xena1 used this moment to get behind Eve´s defense, disarm and overpower her. Now she was holding her sword at her throat.

"So `daughter´," she said, "maybe we should discuss the situation again, what do you think?"

Eve however was only sent her a hateful glare.

Perdicas didn't make one single aggressive move. Instead he looked nearly satisfied? They would ask him later.

For the moment it was over. They had won.

At this point however they were interrupted once again. They heard someone laughing, very close to them. It sounded somehow cheerful, nearly happy. Despite their surroundings and the sinister mist all around them, it somehow didn't seem menacing at all.

But they all knew only all too well that the first impression could be deceiving

_"You..you are here," _it said.

They heard it now only a few meters away from them. It was the same voice they had heard before, the one they had been following before the fight started.

Gabrielle and Xena nodded to each other.

She and Sarah walked closer, to where they thought to make out the source of the voice while the others kept an eye on their defeated opponents.

A few seconds later, they saw something.

It was the body of a young woman who was lying on her side on the ground before them. She had dark hair and very pale skin and she was completely naked.

Sarah could have sworn that she hadn't seen the body at this place a moment before. But that was probably the way the mist and this twisted land confused everyone. Or maybe she had truly not been there a second before, with the area changing around them it was hard to tell.

At first sight, you could think that the woman was unconscious, but both of them were quite sure that she wasn´t. Then, all of the sudden, she opened her eyes. She stared at them wordlessly.

"Ahm hello," Gabrielle greeted her.

"You have come to me," she said. "You have heard me."

"Yes," she answered simply. There was no doubt that it was in fact **her** voice they had heard.

Gabrielle saw now that this woman was not much more than a teenager, maybe 19 or 20 years old. ….At least that was what she looked like.

But as it was said, appearances could be deceiving. She couldn't even be hundred percent sure that this girl was even human.

"Here," she said, handing the young woman the cloak she had gotten from the cultists earlier, "this is for you."

"Oh, thank you," she replied, taking the clothes.

For a moment, she looked as if she didn´t quite know what to do with them, before she finally put it on.

While they were talking, they were slowly moving back to the others.

"What is your name? Can we help you?" Gabrielle asked.

"My name...my name...what is yours?" she returned the question.

"I am Gabrielle. This is Sarah."

The young woman smiled at them.

"Then my name is now also Gabrielle or Sarah," she stated. "Gabrielle Sarah...Sarah Gabrielle," she chanted softly.

Both of the women exchanged a puzzled look.

"No, those are **our** names. What is yours?" Gabrielle asked patiently.

"Names...names...names" the girl just murmured.

"Tell me, have you been out here for long? Are you lost?" the Bard wanted to know.

"Out here?...yes, for a very very long time. I don´t quite remember how long."

"We can tell," Sarah whispered quietly, but didn't say anything as Gabrielle gave her a sharp look.

"Oh, I know now," the young woman said, "My name is Sahrielle...or do you like Gahra better?" She began to giggle like a little girl.

In a few meters distance, Ares was watching the exchange in open amusement.

"Is something wrong?" Gabrielle asked him sharply.

"No, everything is alright," he replied, grinning.

"She seems to be a little confused," she said to Sarah.

"A little? She is completely nuts," she responded.

"Who knows how long she's been out here," Gabrielle reminded her. "We have to take her with us."

"I am not sure if that is a good idea."

"We can not just leave her here."

They both glanced at the two Xenas, Callisto and Ares.

"Okay," Xena1 answered after a few moments. Ares and Xena3 did, although a bit reluctantly, as well.

Finally it was on Callisto.

After a few more seconds she nodded as well.

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile in another reality, a being known as Hope was waiting impatiently for the return of the group that had left from this place some time before.

That place was a quite an impressive fortress, located somewhere in the central area of the land of Greece. It was one of the strongholds of the newly formed power that had taken control of this country a few years ago.

She was standing just outside the gate and let her supernatural senses sweep over its entire area, nothing.

Finally she had enough. She turned around and was walked straight back inside.

On the castle walls behind her were hanging the dead bodies of a few of the ones who had dared to cross the new ruling force of the land. It was a common sight in the Greece of today in this reality.

xxx

As she arrived in the throne-room, she was greeted by a woman looking identical to herself.

"Mother," she stated.

"And Hope, is there any news?" Gabrielle asked her with a curious, nearly playful, smile.

"No, Eve and the others had not returned to this realm yet," she answered.

"Really? You sound nearly worried, at least someone could think so if they heard you."

Like herself, her mother Gabrielle was one of the four Queens who were now ruling Greece and most of the neighboring regions, together with the God of War.

"Xena´s idiotic quests don't concern me," she replied, "or if Eve is getting herself killed on one of them in some foolish hunt for glory. But that doesn't mean she has to take Delilah down along with her. Or Perdicas," she said with a side-look at her mother.

"Oh I am not worried about Perdicas at all," Gabrielle answered. "It is just no longer between us like it once was. To be honest, I think I am growing tired of him."

Hope wasn´t completely sure if her mother was serious or just trying to save face. It didn´t really matter.

"Maybe we would both be happier if he died and stayed dead for good this time," Gabrielle stated.

"If you say so," she responded. "It would be really a shame if another one of Xena´s children would die." Hope grinned. "But this time she can hardly blame me for it, but only her own foolishness."


End file.
